Good news from boating industry in EU

[Alan]

I just returned from the METS Marine Trade Show, the worlds largest, in Amsterdam and attendance for the show hit record highs. The first day of the show had 1000 more attendees than last year and the second day doubled that with 2000. Normally by the middle of the third and final day the show winds down and people start to head home. We were still writing orders through that afternoon.The marine trades in the US are in a terrible slump and many companies are 'downsizing' and reorganizing. The EU though seems to have a good healthy economy going with plenty of spending in boating.

 

[mike C16582]

you would think.....

of course things hit record "highs" in Amsterdam.......... ;Don a serious note, look at the sport of sailing in general. In Europe, sailing is booming, OD racing is everywhere, there has a been a HUGE upswing in youth participation all over (especially in Spain due to the AC) The TP52 Med. circut this year was amazing, we can go on and on. Yes, with the Euro being very strong, that helps in spending power, but sailing in Europe, which has always been popular, is doing amazingly well. We can not sy the same thing here in the US.

 

[Alex]

younger generation sailing

to comment on youth participation, although I know it's not like this everywhere, but around me I get the feeling of discouragment. I am younger myself and because of my age when I go to boating stores I often get zero help, I have to go to very specific boat stores if I want more of an answer then, go home and read it on the internet. When I was trying to look and buy a boat it was even worse. Nobody wanted to show me any boats, everyone told me they are on the internet so go home and read about them on there. I ended up going two states over to a dealer with a boat I liked which I was allowed to see. I love sailing and have been doing it all my life, but if i were new to sailing there is no way i would continue with the difficulty i get.

 

[abe]

It is hard to believe that the europeans are...

having a "good time" and "healthy economy". I have friends in Germany and France and they are afraid if they loose their jobs that it will take years to find another job with unemployment at 10-12%. A friend of mine working for BMW tells me that the US is their biggest market and with the weak dollar the company is lossing money and they are afraid if they raise the car price that we wouldn't buy any.They feel good the euro is strong.....but they also see that their products are difficult to sell over seas with the US having the largest share for their market. What people are seeing are the top 1-5% of the europeans with $$ not the "middle class". Remember in europe your 16 year teanager doesn't get a car because they worry about the environment....but because fewer people can afford to pay for a car and gas. And most europeans don't live in single family homes..but cramped up apartments. I have lived in europe and have traveled to 20 countries....don't be so easily mislead by what you see at the upper end of the financial scale.abe

 

[Ross]

If your market is the upper 10 percent of

a population of 300 milion people you have 30 million potential buyers. If your company produces 10,000 widgets per year then everything will look great for your company. On the other hand if your market is the lower 30 percent of the population and you are selling a toy that has no way to improve the living standard of the potential buyer then you may not be so thrilled with the economy.

 

[Jim]

Ross, ok I give up

what are you trying to say?

 

[Jim]

When your current does good

You do good and enjoy sweet boats!

 

[Ross]

Jim , There are people that have observed that

from their perspective the economy in Europe is doing great but others have heard a different report. In each case the observations are being made from a narrow perspective. I was merely stating that for one group the economy may be all roses but for another group it may be feeling like hand to mouth living.

 

[Jim]

Ross that is true everwhere

China, the US, Mexico and everywhere else. You do thing someone could be rich if no one was poor?

 

[Alan]

Let's face facts

Nobody who owns a boat for recreation is poor. Sure there are rich and poor all over the world. However the EU economy in general is doing very well and more people are moving into sailing than ever before. In the US, the sales market for boats in general is poor and for sailboats it is almost non-existent. Many of the folks in the marine industry are in very bad financial shape. In Europe however, the market is strong and healthy.If my sales are an indication of the relative strength of these trends, the EU is definitely my strongest market. In '07 my sales so far are running 80+ percent in the EU compared to 5% in the US and 11% in Canada.

 

[John Nantz]

abe - "The Bigger they are the Harder they fall"

With regard to your comment about Europeans living in "cramped apartments", this isn't all that bad. Because those "little" apartments also use less energy to keep them warm in the winter as compared to individual houses with lots of exposed surface area there is less energy consumption.Since there are so many residences close together it is very efficient to have public transit as opposed to where there is urban sprawl and transit vehicles use a lot of energy to travel long distances per rider.There's an old saying in wrestling and football: "The bigger they are the harder they fall".What we're experiencing is a world-wide shortage of energy and we live in a country with the largest per capita consumption of energy in the world. As the US goes into the other side of the supply-demand curve for energy it will be felt throughout our economy. Those who drive gas-guzzeling vehicles or live in an energy-inefficient house, or operate their home in an wasteful energy manner (f.e., high thermostat settings in winter, low in summer), will feel the pain of this economic reality. You can expect to hear a lot of crying and screaming as those who are wasteful and don't want to conserve get hit in the pocketbook. These people will blame everything and everybody except themselves.

 

[CharlieCobra]

Umm, boat soup.

Imagine trying to figure out what goes with which boat.

 

[Capt. Kermie]

A different "Breed"

There seems to be a different breed of boaters out there these days. I attended boat shows 30 years ago and remember the large percentage of sailboats on display indoors for all to see. Today I go to the boat shows and there are relatively few sailboats on display on the hard and not even that many in the floating show. Obviously there is no sizeable market for sailboats given the show space they occupy. On the other hand I have seen an exponential growth of powerboats on display especially in the trailerable size which incidentially is where the market growth is. This seems to fly in the face of rising fuel costs and environmental issues yet the trade shows indicate this to be the trend. I see some nice pictures of sailboats in this thread and it appears in EU at least that sailboats are still popular. Todays North American wants instant gratification which powerboats deliver and sailboats do not. It takes time patience and skill to learn to sail and many years to master. Powerboats are much easier to get in and go with and the generation buying them do not share the same values as sailors of yesteryears. I also do not see any growth in marina slips but instead hear doom and gloom tales of years long waiting lists especially here in the PNW, there was an article in some sailing magazine covering this issue not too long ago. No one is going to buy a boat that they cannot obtain a slip for, kind of makes the trailerable market look better. I just happen to own a trailerable sailboat and am glad I do.